Braves celebrate Teixeira's arrival, pound Astros

Kelly Johnson homered twice and Jeff Francoeur homered and
scored three times to power the retooled Braves to a 12-4 rout
over the Astros on Tuesday.

Buoyed by the acquisition of the slugging first baseman Teixeira
from Texas at the trade deadline, there was a very familiar
swagger in the Atlanta clubhouse prior to the game.

It was a feeling that general manager John Schuerholz's moves
readied the club for yet another postseason run.

Feeding on that energy, Johnson and the Braves came out
swinging.

"It was exciting from the second we got here," Johnson said.
"There was kind of a buzz in here and you could feel it out
there. Hopefully, it's going to continue to the end of the
season."

The 25-year old Johnson, who will likely be dropped to eighth in
the lineup when Teixeira starts on Wednesday, singled in his
first at-bat and followed by smashing a 2-2 offering from
Houston starter Chris Sampson (7-8) into the right field seats
in the fourth to give Atlanta a 5-1 edge.

"We joked around about it," Johnson said of his likely demotion.
"The guys hitting in the sixth, seventh and eighth spots did
well tonight."

After singling in the sixth, Johnson collected his second-career
multi-homer game by smashing a 413-foot three-run homer to dead
center field in the seventh, making it 10-4 and putting the
exclamation point on the rout.

Johnson's offensive heroics were one of many for the lethal
Braves lineup, which smashed 15 hits.

"We need (Teixeira), no question about it," Johnson said. "But
it's nice to be swinging and scoring runs the way it's been
going."

Francoeur had three hits, including a homer in the sixth, and
scored three times.

Edgar Renteria, who entered Tuesday tied for the major league
lead with 30 hits since the All Star Break, smashed three more
hits and scored twice.

The Atlanta lineup should only get better with the addition of
Teixeira, who was activated prior to the game, but did not
arrive at Turner Field until in the bottom of the seventh
inning.

"He'll make (our lineup) so much better," Braves manager Bobby
Cox said. "He's a slugger and a great first baseman. He's a
great guy. He knows the city. He played for Georgia Tech."

"I spent some good years here in Atlanta," Teixeira said. "I
know the city well. I've been to plenty of Braves games and
have always been a fan. It will be great playing here."

Atlanta starter Chuck James (8-7), who was 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA
over his last five starts, was not as good as he was in his
previous game, but pitched well enough to notch the victory.

The 25-year old James surrendered four runs and six hits, walked
one and struck out three to improve to 2-0 lifetime against
Houston.

"Anytime you give up four runs in five innings and get the win,
you'll definitely take it," James said. "I hit a wall."

Meanwhile, Sampson allowed five runs and nine hits in four
frames.

"It's the dog days of summer and they don't call them dog days
for nothing," Sampson said. "I was behind a little bit in the
count. It's tough to pitch when you're behind."

James took a 5-1 lead into the fifth, but saw the lead cut to
5-4 on Chris Burke's RBI single and Craig Biggio's two-out
double.

Houston had a chance to tie the game in the top of the sixth.
Reliever Peter Moylan issued a two-out walk to Eric Bruntlett
prior to Eric Munson, who smashed a ball through the legs of
Johnson for an error. Francoeur's throw missed the cutoff man.

Bruntlett tried to take advantage of the miscue, but an alert
Chipper Jones nailed the 29-year-old with a strong throw to the
plate.

Lance Berkman homered in the first for the Astros, who lost for
the third time in four games.

All-Star catcher Brian McCann tied the game at 1-1 in the second
with his 12th home run for Atlanta, which has won two straight
after losing four in a row.

NLAT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY JEFF FRANCOEUR (12) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE 6TH OFF MARK MCLEMORE.CURRENT SCORE: HOUSTON 4, ATLANTA 6DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: K JOHNSON (.291, 2-FOR-2, HR, 2 RBI)

NLAT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY BRIAN MCCANN (12) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE 2ND OFF CHRIS SAMPSON.CURRENT SCORE: HOUSTON 1, ATLANTA 1DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: J FRANCOEUR (.297, 11 HR, 68 RBI)